Normally it takes a little while to get ready in the morning, but today we made it a point to get on the road early. LA freeways are usually slow, but on a Sunday morning with 5 lanes open, we made great time! I'm really happy we used the overpass to get to the Mickey and Friends parking structure. Anyone who went through the light at Ball Road was re-directed to another parking area and it was really backed up. I wonder why Disney was doing that at 9am? Anyhow, we parked on the roof, hopped on the tram and were off to Disneyland!
Security was a breeze and as soon as we entered the parks Theresa and I noticed something different. We looked around and then looked at each other. Where are all the crowds? There's space between all the people walking around. This is awesome! A quick check on the Mousewait app says the crowd index is only in the 30s right now! This is the Disneyland I wish could always exist.
Look, it's Minnie Mouse! The characters must all be coming out at once because Main Street soon had 4 lines.
Let's go see Minnie! We followed her until she settled on a spot, then formed up into a line with all the other people who decided to follow her.
No Duffy today. Instead we've got a little Mickey. First say hi to little Mickey...
Then I'll give you a hug.
Alli wasn't too sure. At least she's not scared.
Cheese! (ha, for a mouse)
Bye Minnie!
With these crowds, there's lots of rides we can go on.
Quick aside, we read books to Ian every night, and he always gets to pick which books to read. Back in 2012, Ruston won an overnight stay at the Disneyland Dream Suite and invited Theresa and I to stay overnight too. I wrote up the entire experience in way too much detail here. Afterwards, Theresa made a picture book for everyone to remember it by. Ours lives in a china cabinet with all our other Disney memorabilia and last week Ian asked to read that book. While reading it and seeing all the pictures of Ruston, Jacob, T and I doing stuff in the park, he kept asking "Was I there?" and "I can do it too?" When we came across the photo of the four of us squeezed into a tea cup and got that question I told him that yes, he can do that one too.
So it was off to the Mad Tea Party for some fun. With no wait, Ian picked the color he wanted, and we walked right on!
Mommy gets motion sick, so she stands by the side and takes pictures. Afterwards, I asked him if he wanted to do the train ride (Casey Jr) or the boat ride (Storybook Canals or small world). He replied that he wants to go on the Tiki room ride. That is one of his favorites, and we were pretty bad not going on it a single time during the Dapper Day weekend. We're going to save the Tiki Room for a little later when these other lines are longer. For now we have to take advantage of the low crowds!
As we walked towards Fantasyland, Theresa and commented that maybe we could ride the Carrousel. Ian heard us and said, "Maybe the Tiki Room". That boy is fixated on the Tiki Room.
The Carrousel had a really short line too, and the group in front of us was allowed to board and we were asked to hold. That meant we're first in line for the next cycle! Could this be the time when we finally ride Jingles?!? Alas, no. Jingles still must be off getting cleaned.
Alli is doing a really good job sitting up now, so I think it's time she rode her own horse. And look how happy she is! I stood behind her the entire ride, but she did great! Not bad for a 7 month old!
Quick picture of the two of them together then it's off to the next stop.
We entertained riding the Casey Jr train, but with no wait times posted and a rope extension on the normal queue, it was starting to look like a pretty long wait. We settle for a quick photo op on Dumbo then off to it's a small world.
it's a small world was also a walk-on ride. I'm really loving these early morning Disneyland crowds. Showing off their Zootopia clothes they got from some friends. I love that Ian is big enough to sing along to the song while we're riding now. It's a special Disney moment for me.
Let's see. What else is around here? Oh yes, this could be good. A pivotal moment with Ian and I. His very first roller coaster. Now I love love love roller coasters. T on the other hand can't ride them, so I rarely indulge. But if I had a roller coaster buddy... then that would be a whole different story.
A quick height check and we're barely above the 35" minimum requirement! Yes!
It was a quick line, but Ian and I talked about all the stuff the roller coaster was going to do. The coaster goes right beside the line so you can see all the stuff it does while you wait.
Me - "See them going down the hill?"
Ian - "Is it scary?"
Me - "No, not scary, just a little loud."
Ian - "Is that a tunnel?"
Me - "Yes, it's just a little tunnel."
Ian - "Is there a bear in there?"
Me - "No, no bears. You just go through the tunnel and ride around the little lake."
And so forth.
He certainly looks excited. Maybe a little nervous, but still brave.
We could see Mommy while we went up the hill, so we made sure to wave at her.
And Ian did great! Didn't say he was scared or anything the whole time!
Ian - "That was fun!"
Awesome buddy! I was so happy he enjoyed it!
After the coaster, we headed to the front of the park to start winding it down. It's starting to get a little more crowded and we've got to get home to prep for friends coming over for dinner. Our timing was perfect and we walked up to the Tiki room just as they were starting the next show.
Ian making sure little Mickey had a good view of the birds. Love how he sings along with this show too. After the show finished, Ian asked if we could do it again. Why not? Back in line and right in to the next show. After that show, he said "we can do it three times?" Well, that might be pushing it. Two times is enough for today.
Off to our last stop when we noticed a mother duck and her three ducklings. They'd wandered out of the grassy section and were strolling amongst the people on the path. Perhaps they're hungry? Ian fed them some baby puffs and they gobbled them up, until a cast member came along and helped shoo them back into the grass.
There's one more thing we have to do! On top of our Disney china cabinet, we've got a play monorail set that Ian loves to get out (read all about it here). Let's take the monorail back to the car, and let's see if we can ride in the front!
After letting a couple cycles go, it was finally our turn! Wow it seems like it moves a lot faster this way than when you're in the back cars.
I think he liked it.
Time to walk back to the car. Little Mickey helping to push the crosswalk button.
After so much excitement from the day, he fell asleep hard in the car. Then once we got home, he stirred for a minute, then fell asleep for another hour on the couch.
Today had so much awesomeness! We'll certainly be doing more early morning Disney trips in the future.
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